Weekly Report

We have finally found our groove. This week was filled with fun, learning, friends, projects, and great books. The boys love learning and make it pretty easy to teach them. Don't get me wrong, we have our issues, but they didn't surface this week too much. It was a great week.

Thane and I have been filling in a calendar everyday. He has difficulty with the concept of time, which is usual for kids his age, but this has been helping him. He is learning the days of the week, the months, number sequencing, and patterns. For fun, he also inspects the weather each morning and points the arrow on our chart to the correct weather form. Still having to work on his coming out of the room after nap time declaring, "Good Morning, Mom."

History

We read chapter 16, The Return of Assyria. We learned about Ashurbanipal conquering Egypt, Mesopotamia, ect. and creating the first Library so that he would not be forgotten. The boys then created their own books to be included in the library. Magnus's was about Robin Hood and Thane's was about cowboys...

Language Arts-Magnus

Spelling...Magnus worked on alphabetizing and segmenting 2 & 3 syllable words. I love the way All About Spelling uses the letter tiles to reinforce the concepts. Perfect for visual learners.
Grammar...Still working on proper and common nouns, but now we have moved from people to places. Magnus also memorized the poem "Work". He has a great memory (like his Dad). I read it through twice and then he had it. Numerous times throughout the week I asked him to recite it and he did it without any prompting.
Reading Comprehension...He read "Nate the Great" and answered the questions and did the projects suggested in Veritas Press First Favorites Vol. 2. His reading level is very high (around a 4th grade level), but I just want to make sure he is understanding what he is reading. So far so good. Periodically I will have him read me a couple pages of his "free" reading books and narrate back to me what he has read. I will ask him questions about it as well.
Dictionary Skills...He completed a page in his workbook.

Letter of the Week-Thane

This week we studied the letter "E". All throughout the week he pointed out different objects that started with "E" and the letter whenever he saw it on a sign, in a book, or on clothing. He practiced writing it and memorizing the vowel poem in OPGTR. He also created another page of magazine art and an "E" mini book.

Math-Magnus

Worked on partitioning "10" this week. He is learning the numbers that make up "10" so quickly not by using flashcards or worksheet drills, but by playing games. He played a memory game where he had two sets of the cards 1-9. He laid them out upside down and then turned one over. He then had to "look" for the number that when added to it makes 10. If he turned over a 3, he would need to then turn over a 7. We also played a card game like "Go Fish", but instead of making pairs, we had to ask our opponent for a card that when added to ours made 10. It is so much fun! Thane is even playing! I do plan on supplementing with some drill worksheets when I feel the need to.

Science/Geography

We went over to our friend's house again. This week we learned the difference between alligators and crocodiles. We separated the kids into 2 different groups and they had to search for the answers in books. Great opportunity to teach them how to use the Table on contents and the Index. We came back together and presented our finds. We are also learning how to read a map. We worked on finding the directions (North, Northwest, West, ect.) and made our own compass rose.

Our activities included...
Monday...Homeschool Storytime and the park with our friends. We went to the Chiropractor to be well adjusted for the week and attempted to go to Chess Club. The person in charge was not there to unlock the building and set up. It is not the most organized club and I am not sure if we will continue. We have a conflict for the next three weeks though. The boys will be starting swim lessons.
Tuesday...Budding Biologist (biology club). They learned about Salamanders and the difference between reptiles and amphibians. We also met our friends at the park before hand.
Wednesday...AWANA for the boys and date night for mom and dad. When we picked the boys up, they were in for a surprise...SNOW!

The boys played outside when we got home.(Lucky for him, he missed!)

I know, pretty sad excuse for snow, but we will take whatever we get in TN! The night ended with Thane getting hit right in the face with a snowball from Magnus.
Thursday...Book club. We read Jan Brett's "The Mitten". We had such a great time acting out "The Hat" last week, we acted this one out this week. The kids really get into it.
Friday...Tonight, Collin is taking Magnus out on a "date" and I am taking Thane. We use to do this more often, but for whatever reason, had stopped doing it. No longer. It's important for all of us to have that one-on-one time with each other. Not sure what we are going to do yet.

I am looking forward to next week. It'll be bittersweet as my oldest son turns a year older. Where has the time gone...